As the use of wireless communications networks becomes more pervasive, many of these networks are being placed into situations in which the network is inactive much of the time. For example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) in the home might be inactive during the time the resident is asleep or away at work. A WLAN in a coffee shop (e.g., a so-called ‘hot spot’) may be inactive during the hours the coffee shop is closed. To make sure that new devices can join the network at any time, the network controllers in these networks typically are in a fully operational state at all times, thus unnecessarily consuming power during extended periods of network inactivity.